This invention relates generally to a system for producing alcohol, and, more particularly, to a small, compact continuous trickle-down distillation unit for producing hydrated alcohol.
As fossil fuels become more and more expensive to obtain it is becoming increasingly important to find alternative methods of producing fuel for various types of vehicles such as automobiles and trucks. In selecting these alternative fuel producing methods, it is necessary to consider only those procedures which minimize or completely eliminate dependence upon high-cost crude oil for fuel production.
It is becoming abundantly clear that the utilization of distillation procedures for recovering alcohol from fermentation or synthetic feedstocks may be a desirable alternative to the methods of producing fuels already in existence today. Unfortunately, as pointed out in U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,178 a major drawback within such methods is the high operating cost of conventional distillation systems. One cause of this high operating cost is the high thermal energy requirements of systems which produce anhydrous alcohol.
Furthermore, distillation techniques in use today involve the heating of the mixture to be distilled beyond the boiling point of all the mixture constituents, and then selectively cooling the vapor to separate them at a later period of time. Such a procedure not only requires a large heat source but also, because of the danger involved in its use, is not readily adaptable for a noncommercial application.
It has recently been shown that hydrated alcohol (low proof alcohol) can be efficiently burned in spark-ignited internal combustion engines with minor modifications of the engine. In fact, it has been shown that vehicles are now capable of operating on alcohol which is as impure as 160 proof.
It therefore would be highly desirable to provide a distillation unit which is capable of producing hydrated alcohol in a simple, safe and highly economical manner. In addition it would be extremely important if such a distillation unit could be manufactured as a small unit operable by private individuals.